“I have always looked twice at the ‘black sheep’ of the arts—objects that are of a style or an aesthetic that are out of favor due to the vagaries of fashion,” says the architect Peter Marino in his new book, Tiffany Silver: The Peter Marino Collection.
The book is an inside look into Peter’s private archive of nearly 100 pieces of master silversmithing by the renowned American company—from spoons and teapots to highly decorative pitchers and serving trays. As with all of Peter’s collections, the works were curated with his keen eye and include iconic designs alongside hidden gems.
Pair of candelabra, ca. 1880 (with detail). Photography credit: © Jason Schmidt (pages 32-33) silver, mixed metals, 17 x 133⁄8 in. (43.2 x 34 cm). Marked: Tiffany & Co./5615 makers 3118/sterling-silver/-and-/other-metals. Numbered: 898 and 899
“The Tiffany silver in my collection reflects what I believe all great art should,’ Marino writes in the book. “First, one should discover something new every time one looks at it. Second, great truth should be expressed there—and, yes, nature is recalled in these pieces in all of its myriad glories. Thirdly, the craftsmanship is of the very highest level that exists.”
Tiffany Silver: The Peter Marino Collection opens with a foreword by Marino and is followed by an introduction by renowned silver experts Spencer Gordon III and Mark F. McHugh of Spencer Marks, which provides greater context for the collection within Tiffany’s history, as well as American decorative arts in general.
Tray, ca. 1880. Photography credit: © Jason Schmidt Silver, mixed metals, 18¼ x 18½ in. (46.4 x 47 cm). Numbered: 5953-1876/1005
Indeed, it is Gordon III and McHugh who reveal that it was a bug on silver that first caught Marino’s eye, in the book’s text. “This discovery, at a chance meeting with legendary collector Sam Wagstaff in the mid-1980s, started Marino on his path to collecting Tiffany & Co. silver,” they write. “Wagstaff had a curator’s eye for the unique and exciting and was one of the early collectors of American Aesthetic movement silver.”
Jardiniere, ca. 1880 (detail). Photography credit: © Jason Schmidt (page 34) Silver, silver gilt, mixed metals, 10 3⁄8 x 10 x 10 in. (26.4 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm). Marked: Tiffany & Co./5543 makers689/sterling-silver/-and-/other-metals/701. Engraved with monogram “JTB”
“The Aesthetic movement of the late nineteenth century was all about originality, often looking to ‘exotic,’ non-Western cultures for inspiration,” the writers explain in the book. “During this period, designers studied the art of many cultures, but it was Japan that inspired much of the movement’s decoration."
"Having largely isolated itself from foreign trade beginning in 1639, Japan reopened to the West starting in 1853, becoming a source of fresh ideas for designers, artists, and the public at large. Marino had worked for four years in Japan during the 1980s, completing seven buildings there, and the fact that Tiffany’s silversmiths used Japanese decoration on American silver excited him.”
Vide poche, ca. 1880 (detail). Photography credit: © Jason Schmidt (page 114) Silver, 3½ x 3½ x 7 in. (8.9 x 8.9 x 17.8 cm). Marked: Tiffany & Co./6335 M 9019/sterling silver
For over more than forty years, Marino has assembled a collection of Tiffany silver, selectively cataloged in the book, that includes numerous masterpieces of the Aesthetic movement era, many of which are unique or incredibly rare.
“Tiffany & Co. made Japonesque silver for only a limited period, primarily in the 1870s and 1880s, and made only a limited number of pieces—silver with applied mixed metals was expensive at that time,” write Gordon and McHugh. “Yet it was these relatively few pieces that would make Tiffany & Co.’s silver famous throughout the world.”
Centerpiece, ca. 1880. Photography credit: © Jason Schmidt (pages 68-69) Silver, silver gilt, mixed metals, 7¼ x 9¼ x 19½ in. (18.4 x 23.5 x 49.5 cm). Marked: Tiffany & Co./5922 makers1713/sterling silver/-and-othermetals/1037. Acid-etched with monogram “CJM”
Or as Marino, himself, puts it: “The credibility and fantasy expressed in those pieces elevate them to some of the finest examples of art that I collect. Having been hired to reimagine the Tiffany & Co. flagship store at the Landmark in New York provided me with the opportunity to display my collection for the first time in its entirety. It was the best karmic return that I ever imagined.”
Take a closer look at Tiffany Silver: The Peter Marino Collection.
